I'm starting August 28th at IIT. I'm hoping to learn a lot. I'm taking the financial engineering and programming track. I'll keep you guys posted, if you have any specific questions.
Imamic, keep me posted on how things go. Even if I go to Chicago, I'd still consider taking classes at IIT later for various things. Also, if I don't get into Chicago, I'll be at IIT anyway.
At virtually every department at UC the Master's students and PhDs have the same course/exam requirements, at least that's how I remember it. I think even a business PhD has to get an MBA first. But from the CS web site: 1. Should I apply to the Ph.D. program or the Master's program? If you have a strong background in computer science, mathematics, or a related field such as linguistics and you wish to do independent research in computer science in a highly competitive world-wide research environment, we encourage you to apply to our Ph.D. program. If you are a computer professional or a novice to computer science and wish to gain a formal understanding of the principles and techniques of applied computer science, our Master's Program may be the right choice for you. . . . 3. Do students in the Ph.D. program receive a Master's Degree? Upon successful completion of the Course requirements and the presentation of a research-oriented Master's Thesis, students in the Ph.D. program receive a Master's Degree. This concludes the first phase of their work toward their Ph.D. and is expected to take two years. 4. I don't need a Ph.D. but I'd like to get the Master's Degree in the Ph.D. program. What do I do? We do not offer the "Master's Degree in the Ph.D. program" as a separate program. Only students admitted into the Ph.D. program are eligible for this avenue toward the Master's Degree. If you are not interested in Ph.D.-level research, you may want to consider our Master's Program . I was in the MA statistics program at Columbia and it was explicitly stated that the course level was not what a PhD would take. If you wanted to get a PhD you would have to start all over again. I paid a lot of money for the brand, but at least the faculty was the same.
Ah, I see what you're saying. I misread your post. That's fine with me. I have no intention of getting a PhD.
Thanks for the advice, its always good to get more then one opinion. Jason, did being enrolled in the CFA and having almost completed the program help you get better job offers in hedge funds or top financial firms? Or else, I agree the IIT program does sound very interesting and I have heard of people being placed on the trading floor of the Morgan's and Merrill's... Just curious, how old are you guys?
You might want to check out Carnegie Mellon's MS in Computational Finance http://business.tepper.cmu.edu/default.aspx?id=142109